Snowstorm Substitute Is No Better

Lehigh Valley residents started their day bracing for 2 to 4 inches of snow yesterday. The threat of a substantial snowstorm even prompted many area school district officials to close schools.

But only a trace of snow came, said Don Miller of the National Weather Service's office at Lehigh Valley Airport.

"The projections may have been over-exaggerated somewhat," he said.

Nevertheless, residents did have to cope with freezing rain that created hazardous driving conditions and caused dozens of minor accidents around the area.

It also caused residents to slip and on sidewalks that appeared to be wet but were in fact covered with a thin, treacherous, coating of ice. Lehigh Valley Hospital treated two people in Allentown and nine in Salisbury Township who were injured in falls, said spokesman Jim Santanasto. He said one of those sent to the Salisbury unit was not minor, but could not provide details.

Meanwhile, Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown treated one person for fall-related injuries, said Nursing Supervisor Gerry Fasching. Those injuries were not serious, she said.

Initial forecasts had predicted snow, followed by sleet and freezing rain, Miller said. But yesterday only the freezing rain showed up, he said.

Nevertheless, school district officials said they had no regrets about canceling -- except in the Upper Perkiomen area.

Upper Perkiomen was the only district in Upper Bucks or northern Montgomery county to close. And Assistant Superintendent George Bonekemper apparently did have regrets.

"We heard the forecast and thought we would have trouble getting the kids home," he said. "I wish now we didn't do it but what can you do? A decision had to be made."

Bonekemper said the day off won't have an impact on the district's schedule for the rest of the year. Three snow days are built into the calendar and yesterday was the first one used.

Quakertown, Palisides, and Pennridge all sent students home early.

"With the information we had at the time it seemed to be the right thing to do, given the prediction we had they could have been going home on ice," said Alrita Morgan, superintendent of the East Penn School District.

David Fallinger, superintendent of the Northwestern Lehigh School District also felt comfortable with his decision. "You second guess that? No! You make the best decision you have given the information you have at the time that you make it," he said.

Fallinger noted that the snow was predicted to start falling between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. "That would have put us in snow both going and coming back," he said.

The freezing rain actually played a "significant" role in his decision, Fallinger said.

"You also have to think of other drivers relative to your buses and relative to your children who are out on the road," he said, noting that ice could cause motorists to slide into buses or children on foot.

Allentown School District Superintendent Diane Scott said she "held out to the last" in determining whether to close her district, but ultimately decided to close because of ice.

Scott said her district buses a lower percentage of its student body than its neighboring districts, and that she was concerned that a car slipping on ice could injure a child en route to or from school.

"Our problem is to have the little ones walk to school in dangerous conditions," she said.

Schools in Carbon and Schuylkill counties were closed.

As far as driving conditions were concerned, state and local police in the Upper Bucks-Northern Montgomery County area reported no weather-related traffic problems.

Berks County had to cope with quite a few accidents, a dispatcher for the county radio said. But he added that "they're all pretty minor."

In Lehigh County, motorists found themselves slipping and sliding on ice-slicked roads, and there were "fender-benders" everywhere, said a dispatcher from Lehigh County Radio. But she added that there were no serious accidents.